luni, 24 septembrie 2012

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


Funny Demotivational Posters - Part 43

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:42 PM PDT

Check out these new demotivational posters below and tell me what you think about them in the comments. If you love my demotivational poster collection, please link back to it.

There are hundreds of such pictures in our archive of demotivational posters.








































































































Oktoberfest 2012

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:39 AM PDT

The 179th Oktoberfest started in Munich, the capital of Bavaria. The festival that will run for two weeks is expected to attract millions of beer drinkers from around the world.




















































Via: Reuters


Colonel Meow is the World's Angriest Looking Cat

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:07 AM PDT

So fluffy, and yet, so angry. His name is "Colonel Meow," and here's his Facebook page.
























































3 Cents For Sex [Infographic]

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 09:28 AM PDT


Children should have the right to live a happy, healthy life. In some areas, a healthy and happy life is not possible. At an early age when American children are in school learning, Liberian children are often encouraged by their parents to work the streets for money. A better lifestyle is possible, but only if children have the opportunity to become educated. Check out this infographic to see the devastating effects of the lack of education in Liberia.

Click on Image to Enlarge. 3 Cents For Sex
Via: Sahbu


Searchlove: Upcoming Conferences and a Free Video

Searchlove: Upcoming Conferences and a Free Video


Searchlove: Upcoming Conferences and a Free Video

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 07:56 PM PDT

Posted by willcritchlow

The Distilled Searchlove conferences are coming up in London and Boston in just over a month. These PRO discounts are our deepest ever. The SEOmoz community gives us so much, and we love being able to give a little bit back.

90% of last year’s attendees said they’d attend again, and we've been putting loads of effort into making this year's conference even better. This year's conferences are planned to be the biggest and best yet. It's amazing to me that we can be responsible for great speakers like Richard Baxter getting presentation training (largely because I keep writing posts like this one and raising already-high expectations!).

I think this year’s speaker line-ups and schedules are some of the best we’ve ever put together - here is a small snapshot of what you can look forward to:

A few of the Boston speakers (see full schedule):

Boston Searchlove speakers

And a few more from London (see full schedule)

Searchlove London line-up

If you loved the full-length video of Wil Reynolds speaking at Mozcon and want to see him live, you'll be pleased to know he is speaking in London and Boston.

Mike King’s “Targeting Humans” talk

If you are getting withdrawal symptoms after watching 17 hours of Mozcon videos and want more to keep you going, I've got more great news for you: we're giving away a 45 minute HD video that normally costs $70 in our store for free.

Mike burst onto the speaking scene in style last year. He is one of the few people I know who has the guts to start an SEO talk dressed as MC Hammer and pull off a real live Hammer Dance. Add to that one of the highest-rated talks we’ve seen at our conferences, and you have a knockout punch of entertainment and educational value. Did I mention that Mike will be speaking at Boston?

Use the code MOZMIKEFREE to get the video for free:

Mike King - Targeting Humans
 

Here’s how you get the 45-minute-long HD video completely free:

  • Copy the 100% discount code: MOZMIKEFREE
  • Head on over to our video store to get the video to stream or download completely free (no credit card required)

Things I'm looking forward to at Searchlove

I'm so excited to have a load of brilliant new speakers this year. Although some of the speakers are old friends, all of them are new to Searchlove:

Here are a few of the things I'm personally excited to learn from the new additions to our speaker line-ups, along with some links for you to check out in the meantime:

  • If you hang out on Hacker News, you will know Patrick McKenzie by his patio11 handle. I have been subscribed to his training videos by email since it launched, and I know I'm leaving money on the table by not implementing all his ideas. For a sneak preview, I encourage you to read about how he doubled the revenue growth rate of Server Density.
  • Dan Shapiro's amazing recent successes (go and read about how quickly a great faceted navigation can get you acquired) make him the perfect person to talk about manufacturing serendipity. It's amazing how much of an SEO's job these days relies on who you know, so I can't wait to hone my ability to make luck go my way.
  • I know you all know Jen. I'm so pleased she is going to be appearing for us in Boston. This whiteboard Friday on growing the value of your company twitter account is my go-to link for people looking for success in that area.
  • Have you ever seen Ian Lurie speak? Or read one of his posts (read: rants)? I personally like this one on time management. All of this makes me think I will have a lot to learn from his presentation on making better pitches and proposals.
  • Although we get a lot of attendees in London from across Europe (and a few from further afield), we have done relatively little on international SEO. We're remedying that with the multi-lingual Lisa Myers. I want to learn what I don't know from a true European.

Because we're bringing on such an array of new talent, there are many surprises in store. The most exciting unknowns for me include:

  • Justin Briggs (who used to work for Distilled) isn't new to Searchlove - he's rocked Boston for us in the past - but I want to see what he makes of London. We're responsible for him getting his passport...
  • I have no idea what Rand has up his sleeve for the head to head ("inbound marketing on a shoestring") - I have some fun ideas of where I'm going, but I'm looking forward to seeing the direction he will take.

In summary, I want you to come

I want you to come

Wil wants you to come

Wil wants you to come

Stephen wants you to come

Conversion rate expert Stephen Pavlovich

Richard wants you to come

Richard Baxter on stage

Rand wants you to come

Rand on stage

We'll see you there, right?

[Pro Perks | Ticket store]


Thanks to foliovision for photos of our London conferences.


Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

One Final Flight Over America

The White House Your Daily Snapshot for
Monday, September 24, 2012
 
One Final Flight Over America

Last Wednesday morning, Space Shuttle Endeavour began its final flight atop a jumbo jet at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. For three days, the shuttle rode piggyback to Los Angeles, California where it will begin its next mission as an educational display at the California Science Center.

Check out this photo gallery of Endeavor's final flight.

Space shuttle Endeavour is moved into the Shuttle Mate-Demate Device at Kennedy Space Center (Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space Shuttle Endeavour is moved into the Shuttle Mate-Demate Device at Kennedy Space Center (Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
 
In Case You Missed It

Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog:

Watch First Lady Michelle Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Dinner
First Lady Michelle Obama delivered the keynote address at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner this weekend.

Weekly Address: Congress Must Act to Create Jobs and Grow the Economy
President Obama describes how the House of Representatives left town without finishing important work that would create jobs and strengthen our economy.

Photo Gallery: Olympic Visitors at the White House Through the Years
The holdings of the Presidential Libraries of the National Archives offer a special look at Olympic memories from the past.

Today's Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

10:45 AM: The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing

11:15 AM: Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney WhiteHouse.gov/live

12:15 PM: The President and the Vice President meet for lunch

1:05 PM: The President departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews

1:20 PM: The President departs Joint Base Andrews

2:15 PM: The President arrives New York City

4:10 PM: The President and the First Lady tape an appearance on "The View" 

8:20 PM: The President and the First Lady attend a reception for visiting Heads of State and Government

WhiteHouse.gov/live Indicates that the event will be live-streamed on WhiteHouse.gov/Live

Get Updates


Stay Connected


This email was sent to e0nstar1.blog@gmail.com
Manage Subscriptions for e0nstar1.blog@gmail.com
Sign Up for Updates from the White House

Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy

Please do not reply to this email. Contact the White House

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111
 

Seth's Blog : From general to specific (or vice versa)

From general to specific (or vice versa)

There's no doubt that it's easier to start an organization (or a project) around specific.

The more specific the better. When you have a handful of ideal potential clients and a solution that is customized and perfect for them, it's far easier to get started than when you offer everything to everyone.

Not only that, but the specific makes it easier to be remarkable, to overdeliver and to create conversations, because you know precisely what will delight the user.

Once you master your specific, you can do the work to become general, because you have cash flow and reputation and experience.

The flipside of this is interesting: if you have somehow, against all odds, managed to succeed in the general, the move to specific is almost effortless. If you can change your reflex action that consistently pushes you to mass, the market you've chosen will embrace the fact that you, the general one, are now truly focused on them, the specifics.



More Recent Articles

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Don't want to get this email anymore? Click the link below to unsubscribe.




Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498

 

duminică, 23 septembrie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


France Set to Implode; Troika Soap Opera; Grappling with Neo-Nazis

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 07:41 PM PDT

The soap opera in Greece continues with Germany and France tugging on opposite sides of the rope, and support for Golden Dawn, an alleged neo-Nazi party rising in the wake.

French president François Hollande is on the sidelines, not wanting another battle with German chancellor Angela Merkel who has her own set of problems.

However, the French Prime Minister says Give Greece More Time.
Jean-Marc Ayrault, the prime minister, taking a clear swipe at those in Germany insisting on a hard line against Athens, warned that a Greek exit from the eurozone would be "unmanageable" and could be "the beginning of the end of the European project".

Speaking in an interview with the French news website Mediapart, Mr Ayrault said: "We can already offer [Greece] more time . . . on the condition that Greece is sincere in its commitment to reform, especially tax reform."

France's chief fear is that a compounding of the eurozone crisis would turn the spotlight of the financial markets on itself and the country's public debt, which is set to exceed 90 per cent of GDP.
France Set to Implode

France wants to give Greece more time because it needs more time. Of course France will not admit that, instead insisting it will meet its deficit targets, primarily by hiking taxes.

Forget about it. France has no chance of meeting its deficit reduction targets because ridiculous tax hikes in the middle of a recession, while simultaneously making it harder for businesses to fire workers are exactly the wrong things to do.

Instead of meeting its targets, I propose Hollande's policies have made it highly likely France is poised to implode. It should not take more than a few months, if that.

Troika Soap Opera

Please consider Paris focuses on Athens' Achilles heel
Greek media have called the negotiations – which have seen late-night sessions at the finance ministry and departures at short notice of senior EU and IMF officials – the "troika soap opera".

"The troika had to put up with two previous governments' attempts to delay, dilute and mislead on the reform programme, so the pressure is quite understandable," said a former government economic adviser.

Yannis Stournaras, the finance minister, had what Greek officials called a "shortlived confrontation" with the troika last week, refusing to make further cuts in pensions and salaries. After that, the heads of mission left, giving Athens an extra week to wrap up the alternative measures.

Meanwhile, Antonis Samaras, the prime minister, has been unofficially seeking a two-year extension in talks with European leaders, hoping to promote a modest economic recovery by 2016. The country's recession is deeper than forecast – with the economy projected to shrink by almost 7 per cent this year and another 1.5 per cent in 2013 – and he argues that is causing unprecedented hardship for ordinary Greeks.

Opposition to the latest round of cuts, which will knock another 20-30 per cent off pensions and public sector salaries, is already mounting, with public sector unions due to hold a 24-hour strike on Wednesday.

One opinion poll published at the weekend showed the leftwing Syriza coalition, which calls for abandoning the reform programme, narrowly ahead of Mr Samaras's conservative New Democracy party for the first time since the June general election. Several polls put the far-right Golden Dawn party, which is steadily making gains among newly impoverished voters, in third place.
Grappling with Neo-Nazis

While the bickering between France, Germany, and the Troika continues, Greece grapples with shadow of Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn, which won 7 per cent of the vote in June's election and entered parliament for the first time, is on a roll, pulling established parties to the right – including Corinth's socialists.

Polls suggest the party has gained ground since the election as anxiety deepens over a possible Greek expulsion from the euro. A poll this week showed a near doubling in the number of people expressing "positive opinions" about Golden Dawn, up from 12 per cent in May to 22 per cent now.

In Corinth, where immigrants sacked from jobs in local vineyards and wineries because of the recession are blamed for a rise in crime against property, the party polled almost 10 per cent – one of its highest scores across the country.

"They went round the villages saying that if they got into parliament they'd call for every immigrant to be deported," says Panos Damalos, an activist with Anti-Racist Initiative, an immigrant support group.

"There is no such person as a legal immigrant," says Mr Kassidiaris, a former Greek army commando whose approval rating soared after he slapped a female Communist parliamentary candidate on a breakfast television talk-show.

Yet Golden Dawn has also tried to build an image of social responsibility, through regular food distributions to needy Greeks registered with the party and by providing a service to accompany pensioners to the bank in neighbourhoods where muggings – which they blame on immigrants – are frequent.

Maria Tsalpatura, a 75-year-old retired schoolteacher, says she calls Golden Dawn every month before she goes to collect her pension. "They come on time and they're very polite, I think they offer a real service," she says.
This cannot possibly end well, whether or not Greece gets a time extension.

Policies have driven Greece straight into the hands of extreme radicals on the right and left, both of which have had enough of the Troika and Germany.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List


Fair Trade is Unfair; In Praise of Cheap Labor; Are Bad Jobs at Bad Wages Better than No Jobs at All? Are Paul Krugman and Mitt Romney On the Same Page?

Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:15 AM PDT

Are bad jobs at bad wages better than no jobs at all? Should the US demand third world economies pay "living wages"? If so, and if countries don't oblige, should the US impose tariffs so the US does not lose jobs to such countries.

Moral Outrage Over Free Trade

This is what I think....

Moral outrage is common among the opponents of globalization--of the transfer of technology and capital from high-wage to low-wage countries and the resulting growth of labor-intensive Third World exports. These critics take it as a given that anyone with a good word for this process is naive or corrupt and, in either case, a de facto agent of global capital in its oppression of workers here and abroad.

But matters are not that simple, and the moral lines are not that clear. In fact, let me make a counter-accusation: The lofty moral tone of the opponents of globalization is possible only because they have chosen not to think their position through. While fat-cat capitalists might benefit from globalization, the biggest beneficiaries are, yes, Third World workers.

Workers in those shirt and sneaker factories are, inevitably, paid very little and expected to endure terrible working conditions. I say "inevitably" because their employers are not in business for their (or their workers') health; they pay as little as possible, and that minimum is determined by the other opportunities available to workers. And these are still extremely poor countries, where living on a garbage heap is attractive compared with the alternatives.

And yet, wherever the new export industries have grown, there has been measurable improvement in the lives of ordinary people. Partly this is because a growing industry must offer a somewhat higher wage than workers could get elsewhere in order to get them to move. More importantly, however, the growth of manufacturing--and of the penumbra of other jobs that the new export sector creates--has a ripple effect throughout the economy. The pressure on the land becomes less intense, so rural wages rise; the pool of unemployed urban dwellers always anxious for work shrinks, so factories start to compete with each other for workers, and urban wages also begin to rise. Where the process has gone on long enough--say, in South Korea or Taiwan--average wages start to approach what an American teen-ager can earn at McDonald's. And eventually people are no longer eager to live on garbage dumps.

The benefits of export-led economic growth to the mass of people in the newly industrializing economies are not a matter of conjecture. A country like Indonesia is still so poor that progress can be measured in terms of how much the average person gets to eat; since 1970, per capita intake has risen from less than 2,100 to more than 2,800 calories a day. A shocking one-third of young children are still malnourished--but in 1975, the fraction was more than half. Similar improvements can be seen throughout the Pacific Rim, and even in places like Bangladesh.

Why, then, the outrage of my correspondents? Why does the image of an Indonesian sewing sneakers for 60 cents an hour evoke so much more feeling than the image of another Indonesian earning the equivalent of 30 cents an hour trying to feed his family on a tiny plot of land--or of a Filipino scavenging on a garbage heap?

The main answer, I think, is a sort of fastidiousness. Unlike the starving subsistence farmer, the women and children in the sneaker factory are working at slave wages for our benefit--and this makes us feel unclean. And so there are self-righteous demands for international labor standards: We should not, the opponents of globalization insist, be willing to buy those sneakers and shirts unless the people who make them receive decent wages and work under decent conditions.

This sounds only fair--but is it? Let's think through the consequences.

First of all, even if we could assure the workers in Third World export industries of higher wages and better working conditions, this would do nothing for the peasants, day laborers, scavengers, and so on who make up the bulk of these countries' populations. At best, forcing developing countries to adhere to our labor standards would create a privileged labor aristocracy, leaving the poor majority no better off.

And it might not even do that. The advantages of established First World industries are still formidable. The only reason developing countries have been able to compete with those industries is their ability to offer employers cheap labor. Deny them that ability, and you might well deny them the prospect of continuing industrial growth, even reverse the growth that has been achieved. And since export-oriented growth, for all its injustice, has been a huge boon for the workers in those nations, anything that curtails that growth is very much against their interests. A policy of good jobs in principle, but no jobs in practice, might assuage our consciences, but it is no favor to its alleged beneficiaries.

You may say that the wretched of the earth should not be forced to serve as hewers of wood, drawers of water, and sewers of sneakers for the affluent. But what is the alternative? Should they be helped with foreign aid?

And as long as you have no realistic alternative to industrialization based on low wages, to oppose it means that you are willing to deny desperately poor people the best chance they have of progress for the sake of what amounts to an aesthetic standard--that is, the fact that you don't like the idea of workers being paid a pittance to supply rich Westerners with fashion items.

In short, my correspondents are not entitled to their self-righteousness. They have not thought the matter through. And when the hopes of hundreds of millions are at stake, thinking things through is not just good intellectual practice. It is a moral duty.

Purposeful Plagiarism to Make a Point

By the way, I need to point out that everything written above following "This is what I think...." was not written by me (but it does reflect my exact beliefs).

Believe it or not, Paul Krugman wrote that, and here is the link: In Praise of Cheap Labor.

Mind to Mush

Paul Krugman won his Nobel Prize for trade, and in terms of trade, I agree with everything above he said. In fact, there is nothing at all in the article I would disagree with.

At some point since he wrote that, his mind turned to complete mush. Now he is in agreement with Mitt Romney about the need for the US to raise tariffs on China.

All [Freely Entered] Trade is Good!

The fact of the matter is all [freely entered] trade is good. It has to be. For there to be trade, both buyer and seller get something they want at a price they agree on.

However, assume for a second that is not true.

Assume China or whoever is willingly selling us good "too cheap". Who benefits from that? Why the American consumer of course.

Would "Fair Trade" Bring Back Jobs?

Unfortunately, Krugman and Mitt Romney alike would rather the cost of underwear, auto parts, toys, shoes, etc. cost double what they cost, in the foolish belief it would bring back US jobs.

Well it won't. Manufacturing would simply move jobs from China to Vietnam or other places unless the US is willing to start a trade war with the world.

Assuming Romney-sponsored tariffs worked (they wouldn't) and even assuming the jobs returned (that wouldn't happen either), would the tradeoff be worth it?

The answer is of course not. A protected few union workers might benefit, but the cost of everything would skyrocket. Those on fixed income and those in non-protected jobs would be hammered. Unemployment would soar.

And that is looking on the bright side. The jobs would not come home, even if the manufacturing itself did. The first reason is robots, and the second reason is a too cheap cost of money.

Blame the Fed

Flip-flop the order if you like. In a yield starved world with Bernanke pushing down interest rates, the cost of money is ridiculously cheap (assuming of course businesses can find a legitimate use for it).

And what better use is there for money at 1% than for manufacturers to buy robots to replace humans, especially when Krugman and Romney are united in driving up the cost of labor?

I have written about robots before. Here are parts one and two of a recent set of posts I did.

  1. Robots to Rule the World? Taking All Jobs? Replace Women?
  2. Part II - Robots to Rule the World? Taking All Jobs? Replace Women?

Now consider another article that just came my way: This Robot Could Transform Manufacturing.

Please read that article at your leisure. The point is tariffs are not going to bring jobs back to the US, at least jobs by living, breathing human beings.

Rather all tariffs will do is slow global trade and raise costs on everyone.

Krugman and Romney in Same Boat

No one will benefit from a trade war, except perhaps a miniscule percentage of union workers. Everyone else will lose big time.

This is exactly why Romney should be a champion of free trade. Instead he agrees with the new "conscious of a liberal" Paul Krugman who somehow forgot everything he ever knew about the benefits of free trade.

Fair Trade is Unfair

The unions howl they want "fair trade". Fair to whom? The answer is fair to their self-interests, damn the enormous costs to everyone else.

Romney should see that, but he doesn't. Alternatively he does, and is pandering for votes. So which is it?

Here is a key question of the day: Does Mitt Romney Really "Know Better" Than the Silly Things He Says?

You tell me. I don't know if Romney believes the foolish things he says or not.

What I do know is Romney and Krugman are now in the same boat in regards to tariffs on China and both of them are completely wrong.

Addendum:

I modified the line "All  Trade is Good!" to "All Freely Entered Trade is Good!". It should have been clear from the context, but when I said "All Trade is Good!" I was talking about "freely entered" trade. If someone forces you to sell your cow for $10 and you do not want to, that is not "free trade".

Wage and price controls are not "free trade" and either. Sure enough, someone brought up slave trade in an email.

Speaking of which, forced collective bargaining, forced union membership, and union rules that apply to the general population are all forms of slavery and should be abolished. For details, please see Paul Krugman, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, others, Ignore Extortion, Bribery, Coercion, and Slavery; No One Should Own You!

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List